The lake looked perfect and serene; the three teens sitting next to it were goofing off. Harry Potter shoved Ron Weasly, making him pretend to fall and hurt himself. Hermione Granger was laughing at the whole ordeal. They heard the bell from Hogwarts and got up in a hurry to go and eat dinner. As they all sat down, the head master Dumbledore got up to speak.

"Tonight, the staff and I have a little announcement to make. Every 10 years we like to have a ball, and you are lucky enough to be here when we have decided to have a ball. The ball will have a theme; which is a Masquerade party. And there is a age limit. The last ball we had went bad with a couple of mishaps from our younger students, so everyone in fourth year in up will be able to attend."

There were a couple of angry remarks from the younger students, but Dumbledore ignored them

"You will all choose a costume that connects to your house. You will not have dates; we will tell you how the dancing works that night. The ball will be held in 3 days, so get your dancing feet ready."

All of the girls squealed, and most of the boys groaned.

"Alas, young men don't be worried. These balls are not for entertainment for the girls, but they have to do more with the fact that that ball has a secret all its own. You will hear more about that in three days. For now, enjoy!"

They all ate their dinner, light conversation being heard over the students. When kids started to walk up to their houses, all of them wonder what was so special about this ball.

Next Day,

After last period of the day.

Ginny Weasly walked down the steps from her last class of the day, her head hurting. She loathed the astronomy tower, but her teacher said it was "a place of calm serenity." That was until Ginny had started making farting noises and the class cracked up. Ginny smiled at her good work, and bumped into her older brother Ron.

"Oh, hey there Ginny. Did you just come from the tower?"

Ginny nodded.

"I made the teacher livid. She said that the tower was "a place of calm and serenity" all up until I made some farting noises. She was pissed."

Ron smiled at his younger sister, laughing hard. She was such a boy it was funny.

"What's so funny Ron?"

Ginny turned to see her brothers best friend Harry Potter coming up behind them. Ginny quickly turned her head away so she was looking straight forward. She had never really gotten over the fact that she liked him, and she usually couldn't talk when he was around. Ron explained what Ginny had done, and Harry cracked up. He smiled at her, congratulating her on her good deed. Ginny smiled, words not coming to her. She made her way to Hermione, hoping her friend could help her with her dilemma.

"Hermione I need your help."

Hermione nodded and the slipped into the girl's bathroom. After making sure that no one was in there, Ginny told Hermione her problem.

"I-I really like Harry, oh you know that part, but I need your help with calming my nerves."

Hermione looked at her 5th year friend. Poor Ginny.

Harry and Ron sat in the common room, laughing at what Ginny had done. It had spread fast from the 5th years what she had done, and soon everybody was looking for her; but mostly the 5th and 6th year boys. Ron was getting a little angry; all the boys seemed to think he knew where his sister was at. Harry slipped out the Marauders Map and looked for Ginny or Hermione, both of which had not come back yet. They were in a bathroom on the 3 floor. He wondered what they were doing. Ron looked over his shoulder, and saw what Harry saw.

"Funny, isn't it?"

Harry nodded. Very strange.

The next day flew by, and everybody was talking about the ball. After dinner Dumbledore told the 4th years and up that they would be getting their costumes that night, and that tomorrow was a free day for everybody. There was a cheer from the younger students and the older students alike. The 4th years got their costumes first, each different group kids going to their Head of House classroom. There were 4 different sets of costumes; one for each year, and each set was split into different sex group. One for the boys, one for the girls. The 4th years came back with happy looks. Ginny went next, with her only friend from that year, Cloe. When they entered the room, it had changed. There were two doors after the original door. The one on the right was the girls and Ginny went right through it. She could see different colors, different styles, and each were a pretty as the next. But one of them caught her eye. It was a white wedding dress, and the tail was a long as her brother was tall. There were little ruffles that she saw were a lovely shade of ivory. She picked it off the rack and looked at it.

"That would look lovely on you honey."

Ginny spun around to see Professor McGonagall. She had a twinkle in her eyes.

"You think so? It isn't to white for my hair?"

McGonagall laughed.

"Your hair will look brilliant in this. Don't be afraid. This dress has made many of young girls like you lucky in love. The matching outfit in the boy's side is always moving itself through different years though. You see, every costume has a costume that matches it perfectly. Like if you were to pick an Indian princess, the boys one to match would be an Indian prince. But you never can tell. You don't usually end up dancing with the boy that has a matching outfit. The ball picks who you dance with."

Ginny smiled.

She walked over to the dressing room, and slipped out of her clothes. The dress had little straps that went over your shoulders, so it looked like a tank top. She slipped out of her bra and stepped into the gown. It fit perfectly. Every one of her curves was showed off, her arms falling gracefully down as the zipper zipped up on its own. A mask and a pair of high heels showed up in her hands, and she looked at them. She then got what the costume was. It was a Faceless Bride. She liked the idea of that. Slowly she slipped on the black heels, which made her only a slight bit taller. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and slipped on the mask. Walking out, she heard gasps. Cloe was standing right in front of her, her eyes wide. Ginny looked into the mirror behind her. McGonagall was right. She looked fabulous. Her chest looked bigger, her waist accentuated, and her legs not showing. The bottom of the dress hit the floor, making Ginny feel a whole lot happier. Cloe walked over to Ginny and put her hand on her shoulder. Ginny gasped as a necklace appeared on her neck. The pendant was a heart and in the middle was a green crystal that dangerously reminded her of Harry's eyes. The chain was gold, and Ginny smiled intently at how it matched the dress. This was going to be one interesting ball.

Getting back to the common room, Ginny climbed through the portrait hole and saw that the 6th year girls were crowding the exit. Ginny made her way into the common room, just to be attacked by Hermione.

"So, what'cha get? Is it pretty?"

Ginny looked around to make sure that no one was listening.

"It is a Faceless Bride outfit."

Hermione squealed. McGonagall had explained the significance of this costume to Ginny. It was a replica of what Godric Gryffindor wife had worn to their wedding. The mask was even part of the story. McGonagall had nearly cried, telling her that she was a true Gryffindor to be so beautiful in this. Ginny watched as all of the 6th years left; smiling to herself.

Harry walked onto the room with little enthusiasm. Neville was the only one who looked excited. Harry looked at the costumes; there were rock stars to Indians, kings to princes. But only one caught Harry's eye. It was a black tuxedo, and it looked dashing. Harry picked it up, and he heard a laugh from behind him. He turned to see Professor McGonagall standing there, a smug look on her face.

"Professor, what is so funny?"

She shook her head.

"Oh nothing, just……oh nothing."

Harry was confused, but went to try the tuxedo on anyway. McGonagall thought to herself, "This is history repeating itself all over again. From Gryffindor to all the lovely couples that costume and its match have made. This is going to be very interesting." She laughed.

Harry put on the white under shirt fist, then the black slacks. Lastly he put on the black coat. As he pulled down the shirts, a black mask appeared in front of him. It had tears under the eyes holes. He wondered. Slowly he slipped on the mask and stepped out the door. Ron wolf whistled, and then there were a more whistles.

"Hey Harry, want to be my date?"

said one of the boys in the room, making everybody crackup. Harry looked at himself, and he had to admit, her looked rather dashing. Ron patted Harry on the back.

"If word gets out about what you are wearing, every girl in the whole school will be over you."

Harry gave a half hearted laugh. Ron was right, every girl. He didn't like the sound of that.

The night of the big Ball.

Ginny changed into her dress, and made sure it was perfect. Slipping on the necklace, she felt a sense of warmth go over her body. She had pulled her hair back, with the help of Hermione, into a very loose half pony tail. (A/N like putting half your hair up and leaving the rest down, for all you boys P) Then Hermione had place some very pretty hair sticks in here hair under the elastic. They were placed in an x figure. Ginny looked at her handy work. With the dress on, she felt a new kind of confidence. She felt beautiful, even though every girl in her grade in her house had said so. Ginny slipped on her mask, and made sure she was absolutely ready.

"Ready for the big reveal?"

she asked Cloe. She opened the curtain surrounding her bed and Cloe gasped.

"You are so beautiful. Oh my gosh you are so pretty."

Ginny smiled at her friend, who was dressed in a pheasant's outfit. They walked down the stairs, and entered the common room.

Harry looked up in time to see to girls come down the stairs, and his heart stood still. One of them was a pheasant, but the other was dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress, and had on a blank mask. Around her neck was a heart shaped necklace with an emerald in the middle. A couple of boys wolf whistled just like they had when he had had on the tuxedo, but this time all the boys were staring. The girl walked quickly to a group of girls that Harry knew Hermione was in.

Hermione looked up in time to see a Faceless Bride standing in front of her, and smiled at Ginny. She was beautiful, even though you couldn't see her face. Hermione had promised that she would not tell Ron what she was wearing, because she knew that if Ron knew, he would tell Harry. Not a good idea in Ginny's mind. Hermione laughed as she saw Harry staring at Ginny, his eyes going over every part of her body. Ginny was right. Just better leave his imagination at work.

All the kids old enough to attend the ball walked down the stairs to the Great Hall. When they got there, they saw that it had transformed into a blue and white room. It had very low lighting, and there was ice on one side of the room, and fire on the other. There were tables everywhere, most of them circular, only the ones with candles and ice sculptures were long like the regular tables that were always in here. Dumbledore stood from his seat.

"Will the girls please go to my right side of the room, the boys the left?"

All of the kids separated, and Ginny and Hermione went to the right. Harry and Ron went to the left, and the looked up and down at all the girls in there costumes.

"Now, I will tell you how the Ball works. In a couple of minutes after I am done telling you what is about to happen, there will be a basket floating in front of you, and it will be full of pieces of parchment. Each piece has a number on it. Each girl has the same number as a boy on the other side of the room. When I tell you, you will go over and find the boy or girl with the same number. When you do, you may dance or talk, but you can not dance with a other boy or girl. Girls can dance together in a group, but if a girl wants to dance with a different boy than the one with her number, she will be pushed back to the boy with the same number. It is what the ball does. Many of the couples the ball makes end up getting married. Only every once in a while the ball has some fun, and makes it hard for the couple to be together. But that is for those couple to figure out later. Now lastly, the most important part of the ball. At exactly midnight, you will take off your masks, showing your true identity to your partner. The ball likes to have people fall for each other even when the don't know who it is. That is the beauty of the ball. You never know."

Was it Harry's imagination or did Dumbledore look at him, then at a girl across the room. Dumbledore waved his wand and out of no where came a basket for each side of the room. The basket started at the head of the room, and went down the line. Harry grabbed a number when it came to him. Looking at it, he saw that he had number 15.

"What number did you get?"

asked Ron.

"15. You?"

Ron looked down.

"132. What a big difference. Do you reckon that there are that many people?"

Hermione looked at her number.

"What did you get 'Moine?"

"I got 132. What did you get?"

Ginny unfolded her paper.

"I got 15. Well, I guess we should go and find the boy."

Hermione laughed.

"Lets."

She said. She took Ginny's arm and looped it through hers, and started to walk over to the boy's side of the room.

Harry sat down. He had asked a ton of girls what their number was, but not one had 15. One of them had 132, and he could tell it was Hermione, and he told her to find the boy in the pirate costume. He watched Hermione leave in her womanly pirate costume. Now he sat at a table, looking at the dancing couples. The girl in the white wedding dress sat down at a table not far from him, and got up to see if she wanted company.

Ginny sat down, and placed her hand on the necklace around her neck. All the Gryffindor boys had asked her if she had their number, but no one had it. Ginny looked up to see a handsome boy in a black tux sit next to her.

"Thought you might want some company. Look kind of lonely."

She laughed. He was right though.

"What is with your costume? Why are you crying?"

The boy touched his mask.

"Oh. Well I heard it was because ,I guess, that this suit is supposed to be after a prince, and when he was to be wed to the love of his life, she turned up in a terrible state. No one would tell me what had happened, but I guess he still loved her and they got married anyway."

Ginny smiled.

"That is nice. So, didn't find the girl with your number?"

The boy shook his head.

"Nope. You?"

Ginny shook her head. The boy (who is Harry) reached into his pocket and pulled out his number.

"What number did you get?"

Ginny took out her number.

"15. You?"

The boy looked at her. Silently he said "15." Ginny's heart sped up, and she felt happy.

"So do you want to dance, Crying Prince?"

The boy laughed.

"I would love to Faceless Bride."

Harry and Ginny danced until 11 o'clock. After that, they went out the front doors and sat out on the grounds. The found a stone bench in a secluded place near the Great Lake. They still had not a clue of to who they were dancing with, but neither of them cared. They were having a good time dancing, and now they sat on the bench, Harry's arms wrapped around Ginny tightly. Ginny had her arms around her Princes torso, and her head snuggled into his neck. Ginny felt something that she had never felt with anyone but when she was around Harry. She liked that she felt this way, but she was deathly scared to see who it was. As they sat there, she felt her Princes hand going up and down her back. She could feel goose bumps forming on her arms, and snuggled closer to her Prince for warmth. As they had light conversation, the clock got closer and closer to 12. When it started to chime 12 o'clock, Harry let go of the girl in the white dress so he could see her mask. (A/n can't really say face, can I?) Ginny looked up as the last chime went silent. The prince took off his mask, and Ginny was more than shocked to see the smiling face of Harry Potter. Now Ginny was really afraid to take off her mask.

"Surprise. You just spent the evening in the arms of the boy-who-lived. Now who are you?"

Ginny held her mask on her face.

"I-I-I can't t-tell you."

She got up in a hurry, trying to get away from Harry. But Harry grabbed her by her waist.

"No please, please tell me who you are?"

Ginny shook her head. She pulled her way out of Harry's grasp, picked up her dress and ran towards the door. The only thing that was going through her mind was,

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no. This can't be happening. I just spent the night with the man of my dreams. No. I can't let him figure out who I am."

With that Ginny ran faster. But she couldn't get away that easily. She felt a hand grab her arm, and she twirled around. Harry was looking right into her eyes, she Ginny looked away. Pulling out of his grasp again, she ran up the steps to the door, making her way into the Great Hall. She could see Ron and Hermione, their arms wrapped around eachother. Cloe was standing next to Neville, and they were holding hands. But Ginny had to quicken her pace, because now Harry and her had made a scene. She felt a hand grab her necklace, but it broke right off. Now Harry had her necklace. Ginny ran faster until she reached a girls bathroom. She could hear Harry calling her, but she didn't move. After about what seemed hours, the door opened. Ginny held her breath. The stall door next to hers opened. Then hers was opened. To her surprise, Hermione stood in front of her, a smug look on her face.

"So, this is the girl Harry was talking about. I knew something wasn't right tonight."

Harry sat on his bed, looking down at the necklace. It was beautiful, and he had to repair it after it came of the girl's neck. The girl. He cursed himself for letting her go, and now Ron was waiting for Hermione to come back and tell them who it was. Ever Seamus was wondering. Ron had a look of total curiosity as Harry handled the necklace.

"So, Harry. Did you have fun with that gorgeous girl tonight?"

Harry nodded.

"Yes. She was wonderful. So funny and smart; sporty yet elegant. She was perfect. She even liked Quidditch."

Ron threw a pillow at Harry's head.

"I think the block is in love. What do you think Seamus?"

Seamus picked up his own pillow and pretended to kiss it with great passion.

"Yup. He is in love with a Faceless Beauty."

Harry didn't laugh. He was thinking about the girl again. They looked when they heard someone come it. It was Hermione.

Hermione looked at the scene, Ron holding his pillow in front of himself, Seamus kissing his pillow, and a sad eyed Harry holding a necklace. Seamus quickly put his pillow back in it's rightful place. Ron got up and walked over to Hermione.

"Moine, please tell me that you know who that girl is. Harry is obsessing over her."

Hermione looked up at Ron, and took his hand to lead him outside the door. Seamus joined them, wanting to know who the girl was too.

"Guys, we have a major problem."

Ron looked impatient.

"What do you mean---."

Hermione cut him off.

"That girl Harry is obsessing over is Ginny."